doctoral candidate in rhetoric and scientific and technical communication
technology
travel and safety
04 years ago
No, this isn’t a post about homeland security or TSA agents giving me the wand (although that always seems to happen when I travel, strangely enough). It is about two different online services that I’m curious about.
The first site is Tango Diva. It is a travel site for women, by women, and about women’s
issues in traveling alone. The about page states
Teresa took to the friendly skies to find some solace and inner peace, and this time alone. She hit London, Paris, and New York on a whirlwind summer tour, but with no guidebook for the solo gal available, she had to overcome the treacherous travels she encountered all by herself.
This got me to thinking…are there really treacherous travels in London, Paris, and New York? Especially for a single woman? I haven’t been to Paris but I lived in London and I traveled that city on my own for almost all of the time I was there. I never felt unsafe or that anything was remotely treacherous.
I’m heading to NYC in July (by way of Boston and Troy, NY). While I have a cousin there, I will be driving in on my own, depositing my car at JFK, and then doing a lot of things on my own while my cousin works. Out of any city that I’ve ever visited, NYC is probably the only one that carries a little fear for me…and mostly it’s because of what I’ve read or heard on TV. My friends and family have said that because I’ve traveled so much, I will be fine. I know how to act, how to check out my surroundings, etc. But…do I need a web site for women about traveling alone? Would it be wise to be a part of a community of solo female travelers? Have any of you or the women in your life ever used that site?
The second site is Clipperz. It’s an online password / secret storage manager. I thought this might be a good idea for several reasons, not the least that I have so many passwords and they aren’t totally secure right now. I know, I know — I should have them much more secure than they are. And I should know better (well, I do).
I’ve read up on this and other online password management systems quite a bit. This one was reviewed in Lifehacker and it sounds promising. It sounds like there are quite a few safeguards to protect me and my secrets.
Has anyone used this one? What kinds of concerns or questions would you have about it?
transparency
04 years ago
by dawn
in technology
In March, Wired magazine had an entire issue about corporate transparency. This article was advocating the need for corporate CEOs to be more honest and upfront about issues — ala the Microsoft Channel 9 project.
I like the idea of transparency. I think it keeps us honest. However, when is transparency too much transparency? Do I really want to know that the male CEO of my favorite social networking site wears women’s underwear or that the female developer at a site I love is drinking cosmopolitans while she writes code?
There is a point when it is all too much, too much information (TMI). It’s cool that you tell me that you screwed up and made a mistake in the code and now there is a gaping hole in security and it needs to be fixed. I get that. We all make mistakes — and we fix them. Tell me what is happening, what you’re doing to fix it, and when it will be fixed (give me a good timeline — not one you *hope* will happen). That gives me time to make adjustments and to determine if the issue is one that I need to take action on. But I don’t need to know too much about their personal lives on their corporate blogs. Maybe they could link to another blog for personal information.
Can you imagine Apple being as transparent as any of this? I mean, they do admit mistakes. But they are hyper-secretive. In fact, the latest development on the iPhone is that it *may* be in stores on June 29th. How is that for hype? We’re gonna be a little transparent, give you a taste, but we’re not sure that it’s really real yet. Mwah-ha-ha.
I can just imagine if any of these people worked in academia. Seriously. Everything we do is transparent. If someone wants to know how much I make, they can find that out. If someone wants to know the type of research going on, they just have to ask. Since we are funded with public monies, we are required to be transparent. It’s always been like that.
So, where are Arizonan’s funds going to in my department? We’re sharing information. Check out some of the cool conference sessions that were held two weeks ago: e-Learning Institute.
jangl me
04 years ago
by dawn
in technology
I thought I’d try out one of those anonymous phone calling sites. Jangl is a new one. It’s easy. All you need is an email address to call someone. Click on the button below and you’ll be able to call me.
startup countdown
04 years ago
When I lived in the Bay Area, I worked for a small startup. This startup (name not mentioned because it never went any further) wanted to become the next e-commerce solution, the shopping cart of all shopping carts.
The thing is, though, that they went too far, too fast. They started paying engineers with the big bonuses and the then coveted BMW z3. So this little company tried to keep up with the big boys and offered the same to prospective employees. The problem was that they didn’t actually have the capital to do that. We had nice offices in Palo Alto, just up the street from Yahoo, Intel, and Stanford. We had a kitchen filled with food and drinks. We had the top computers available. We had everything anyone could ever hope for. But it was too much. We were too greedy (I was only a peon, but still…).
Whether or not you use Zooomr, there are things to know about this up and coming company. They aren’t out spending money they don’t have.
CEO Thomas Hawk took out a second mortgage to finance this venture. Kristopher Tate spends so many hours working on the issues that he actually fell asleep, on camera, in the Technorati offices. Zoli Erdos writes
No status update anywhere on Zooomr’ site or blog: the only “information” available is watching Kristopher Tate sleep live on Ustream.tv. OK, he needs to sleep.. but when he wakes up around 11am, he spends another hour in bed chatting on Ustream.tv. Dude, your system is down, but now you have all the hardware you need get out of bed, do something!
Dude…the guy worked all friggin’ night to make sure your photos would be back up. Give him a little space. He’s not a machine. He needs downtime, too!
Yes, the site has been down for twelve days. Earl Moore writes
I have no sympathy for any IT shop/service letting themselves get into this mess. It’s unbelievable poor planning and management. It’s irresponsible and there should be some accountability. It deserves to fail.
But this is the thing…it is not just Hawk and Tate that would lose out on this if Zooomr were to fail (which I don’t believe it will). It would also be the community — a community that has strengthened as the going got tough. This community that has rallied around the live feeds has not faltered in their belief that this venture will succeed. I think, sometimes, this is what keeps Hawk and Tate going. Without that support, they wouldn’t have as much positive energy to keep going.
Thomas Hawk made a strong statement when he wrote,
It’s easy for people to take potshots at Zooomr when we are down. But we will be back up. We will get back online. And these growing pains will be a part of our history. But we will always remember the people who stood by us in our troubles and I think the support that they are giving us is something that you can’t understand because what they know that you may not is that we are doing this for them.
Indeed, Thomas…how many people, heck, companies, can say that? We know you’re doing it for us.
This is about community much more than about some guy getting lots of credit for something. Sure, Hawk and Tate are the names behind the company. But we, the users, are the people who make that site viable. We will be the ones that help them realize their dreams and, in return, our own dreams.
For that, I keep rooting for zooomr, the little photo sharing site that could…
my worth
04 years ago
I did it. I succumbed. I’m tweating on twitter. See…over there –> in the sidebar? Now you know what I’m doing. Aren’t you glad? I’m sure you are. :-)
I’ve also updated my links to include my del.icio.us, zooomr, facebook, myspace, twitter, and matador pages. I am officially huntable now. I’m hooked up.
Mostly, I started my facebook and myspace pages because I needed to understand those communities in order to continue with my academic research. I didn’t want to just blow them off simply because I had a professional disdain for them. They are ok. They suit a purpose. But I would still rather post here. This is my space.
And speaking of web2.0 applications (because that’s what we were doing up above there), how many of you use wikis? I recently did a workshop on wikis (it’s still not uploaded but will be in the future) and found that very few people understood the collaborative qualities of wikis. This video, done by Lee LeFever at CommonCraft, shows how wikis work in the simplest of terms. I think I may use this in future workshops.
Click To Play
I found this via maryam in marrakesh:
My blog is worth $465,180.96.
How much is your blog worth?
If only. I could sell my soul off and buy…ummm…well…some really nice lenses and a new MacBookPro. Yeah.
Because, you know, my blog holds my soul.
summer entertainment season
04 years ago
I enjoy watching television. That’s a bad thing to say these days, isn’t it? I’m sure someone will look down on me because of that. I rarely just sit and watch; I’m usually doing homework, working out, or doing other things (I’m writing this and the TV is on) while watching.
The majority of mainstream television is now on the summer season. That means a lot of reruns, reality TV, and game shows. I like reality TV but I don’t typically watch reruns or game shows (what’s up with all of these shows that are like American Idol — which isn’t very good to begin with–America’s Top Model, So You Think You Can Dance, etc.?). So, I look to HBO and Showtime to give me their summer series. Since I just got Showtime, I’m catching up on some of their series: Dexter, The L Word (which I have gotten through Netflix), and The Tudors. On HBO, I’m watching the final episodes of The Sopranos, Entourage, and waiting impatiently for Big Love to start next week. Both channels have some interesting shows coming up.
But what is a girl to do when she wants to fill the silence of the house with good old raucus television? Sure, sure, there’s Netflix. I’ve been watching the Battlestar Gallactica series and it has been pretty good. I get a few movies in-between the series.
This summer, though, I’ve decided to put my iPod to good use. I mentioned before that I belong to an Audible bookclub with some of my co-workers. I also got an account. I have a few books that I can listen to:
The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
Angel’s Rest by Charles Davis
Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet
The Stranger by Albert Camus
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
Running with Scissors by Augusten Burroughs
I’ve already listened to the Burroughs book. It was ok. It wasn’t as phenomenal as I thought it would be, given that it has gotten rave reviews from nearly everyone I talk to. Then again, I tend to be quirky and don’t like what others like to read. I rarely read mainstream top 10 books. They just aren’t my thing.
I’ll also be adding to my podcast subscriptions. I currently have about 50 subscriptions (and this doesn’t even include the blog subscriptions that I read in Google Reader). I have a few vlogcasts but mostly podcasts. I’ll try to stay caught up on those.
I have these great Griffin Ear Thumps that block out a lot of the noise and that are more comfortable than the ear buds. They make my listening manageable. And yes, I bought black Ear Thumps to match my black nano…because I’m dorky like that.
Do you have any listening / viewing recommendations? I’d love to hear them.
dancing through the blogosphere
04 years ago
So, I’ve decided that I’m no longer going to keep to my ten-year rule of posting only once a day. I collect things to write about and then when it comes to the next day, the news has changed and I no longer want to write about that topic. So I have pages and pages of stuff that is not relevant anymore simply because I wouldn’t blog about it when it was on my mind.
So there.
I know I’ve been writing about zooomr a lot lately. You know, I go through my phases of what interests me. Right now, that community is very interesting to me because it is on the cusp of big change. They are going *more* social — which is exactly what I love about social software and social networking. I do like the connections even if I am an introverted hermit of a geek girl. Heh.
–
So, the other day, a flickr user asked for a critique on his web site. He doesn’t ask in just any group — but he asks in a professional photographer’s critique group. Everyone kept writing, “looks alright by me” and “I like it.” What the heck? For photographs, we are *required* to critique the image on very specific points and I figure that’s what he wanted. He did say, after all, “Since this is a portfolio group, I thought I would open myself to all the critics I could find. Let me know what you think…”
So, what do I do? Yup, you guessed it. I critiqued it. I have to look at web sites and other materials on a daily basis with a critical eye. I figured I could give him some good feedback. So, I wrote
I’ll preface this by saying I’m on a Mac PowerBook G4 running Firefox 2.0.0.3. Part of my professional background is in usability, web development, and rhetorical values of text and graphics in online environments. That being said, these are only my opinions and are subjective. :-)
The most important things to remember are audience, context, and purpose. When you keep those three areas in mind, you can create a usable site that will promote you well.
I think it’s important to understand who your audience is. Are you trying to sell your photography to a certain demographic or just showcase it? In your contact, you write that you are seeking corporate, agency, and ministry-related assignments. Your site doesn’t say that to me, though, when I go to the splash page. Tell your audience up front what it is that you are doing. Let them know you are for hire for certain industries.
The brown text on brown background could cause problems for some who may have sight disabilities.
While flash is nice, also know that it is not always accessible for those with accessibility issues. That means you could lose customers because of it.
When I select a specific portfolio area, it would be nice if it closed with a click instead of having to open another in order to close one. Also, it would be better to have a gallery than to have rotating images. That could be confusing to a customer.
I do like the look of it and the palette. It has a relaxed atmosphere and makes me want to stick around and check out more. It is very peaceful. Your logo is wonderful — not too overwhelming and not too understated – perfect.
I realized, as I’m going through, that I am an expert in this field. I do know what I’m doing. I’m good at it. I not only have an education in looking at these kinds of things critically but I also have real-life on-the-job experience at doing so. I am good at this.
But he didn’t really want that kind of critique. He actually did want us to say, “atta boy, good job!”
Oy.
–
The ‘sphere is all-a-twitter over twitter. Do you twitter?
I thought about it. But really, who wants to see what I’m doing throughout the day?
wake up
go to the bathroom
let dakota out
find some clothes to wear
take a shower
brush my teeth
Bored yet? Oh, sure…you got stuck on the shower image, didn’t you? Heh.
Plus, I can’t post photographs to go along with my twitters. How would I convey my meaning without visual cues?
Really.
–
Speaking of visual cues, I am thinking more and more about the connection between bloggers’ text and images. Of course, you may realize that my thesis is on the autobiography of women’s traumatic blogs — specifically women who write about trauma and also use visual media to aid in that conveyance of information.
What they write and what their images say are not necessarily the same things. I find that interesting.
But it’s true even throughout the ‘sphere. People seem to miss that rhetorical connection between textual language and multimedia language.
I’m not sure why.
Maybe that’s the next step for the doctorate.
powerful mojo
04 years ago
There are happy stories out there. It’s always amazing to me when they happen on a grand scale and bring together diverse sets of people to make something really special happen.
I belong to Flickr, but I also belong to Zooomr. While they are both photo-sharing sites, they are very different. I enjoy them both for very different reasons.
Zooomr has been going through some growing pains. Kristopher Tate, the boy-wonder developer of Zooomr, and Thomas Hawk, the CEO, have been trying to launch the newest version of Zooomr, MarkIII for the past week. At every turn, they’ve hit a wall that shouldn’t have been there. They’ve been amazingly optimistic throughout it all, though. I have spoken with both of them while this launch has been trying to happen. Thomas is loads of fun and was cracking me up with some of his antics (seriously, hearing him sing along with William Shatner has got to be the highlight of anyone’s evening — hah!). In addition, he set me up with a fellow photographer and kept dedicating songs to us…I think nuptials are in the works. Heh.
Robert Scoble came by to give support in the chat channels (and we’ve spoken several times since my flub up the other day).
Despite some naysayers, the positivity behind the delayed launch has been amazing. The community of Zooomr users has really rallied and has given incredible support to Tate and Hawk. This outpouring of community has reaffirmed my faith in people and community and social responsibility. We feel like we belong to something that is bigger than all of us but also inclusive of us. This is something that will benefit everyone and we’re willing to stand by and be ready to take part when the new version does launch later this week.
Beyond the users, though, some corporate names in the online community have come forward. Zoho has offered space in their datacenter and are currently assisting Tate and Hawk in getting their servers back up and running. Sun Microsystems has offered to loan a 42 terabyte server to Zooomr to assist in the launch. Companies that have no stock in Zooomr are stepping up to the plate to lend a helping hand.
It’s one thing when the community pulls together. We do have a stake in what is happening. It’s an entirely different matter when companies jump in. Altruism is not dead. Not by a long shot.
the players
04 years ago
by dawn
in technology
Last night, Microsoft announced its new tabletop computer. Now, I know that the world is moving into a more collaborative place and I know this would be a fantastic tool in our classrooms. But there is no way in hell that I would want one of these (even if the price came down from the projected $5-10,000 ticket).
Yeah, it’s cool as a kiosk…but…it also means that I have to share desktop space with others. Ick. My desktop is private and I like it that way. Don’t be looking over my shoulder and don’t be trying to move my computer to see what is on it. That is just so invasive.
What this really made me think about, though, is that whenever Microsoft comes out with something new, I wrinkle my nose at it: Vista, Zune, tabletop computer. I wonder why.
When Google comes out with something new, I get excited. Something innovative is coming and my fingers almost itch to try it out.
But I know why. Microsoft has milked us for billions of dollars. They have locked things down so tight that it’s hard to share the software between your own computers. They have violated antitrust and, in so many ways, our trust.
Google, on the other hand, while being investigated by the DOJ, has tried to be as transparent as possible in a very secretive world. They induce their employees to spend time working on pet projects. Their software is, mostly, free. We can all use it without having to pay out the nose for it. We can work collaboratively over thousands of miles and not lose our shirts on the cost.
I like that. I like a world when there really are still things for free and people are happy to share them. Sure, they have their ads — and those make a lot of money for them. But the software doesn’t cost me and the upgrades are painless — because it’s all done online.
It doesn’t happen often and I celebrate Google for their innovative practices. We need more of that kind of insight in today’s world.
new age
05 years ago
I work in a department where most of us are pretty geeky. We get excited about things that most people roll their eyes at. Sometimes, it’s almost like we’re out-geeking one another.
Let’s learn a new language! PHP, SQL, whatever. It sounds good.
Oh! I want to do that in Flash — those slideshows you are doing are antiquated, don’t you know. (All said with a hint of one-upsmanship and a knowing geeky wink and nod.)
So, it’s not surprising that most of us have laptops. Some of us have tablet PCs. Some of us have PDAs. Some of us have iPods (no Zunes yet — but that’s probably wise since I’ve heard they are not all that great). Heck, we even had 2 co-workers bring in an XBox360 and a Wii so we could see the differences (and…uhhh…play with them).
What happens when you have an intelligent group of well-read geeks getting together? Well, of course, they’d want to start a bookclub. But it can’t be any ordinary bookclub, can it?
Oh, no.
We gather around and decide to have an audible bookclub.
Yes. That’s right.
We are all downloading books to our iPods and listening and then getting together in 6 weeks (I know, seems like a long time but many of us are in school, all of us work a lot, and we need time to actually read…uhhh…listen) to discuss the current book.
So, I have been listening to podcasts on my Nano for a long time. I listen to books from podcasts. But they are usually broken up by chapter. That makes it easy for me because I can choose exactly when to end it and come back to it.
I started listening to Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game last night. The file is large. Five plus hours for the first part of the book. And like a good book, I didn’t want to unplug. I was getting caught up in the story.
I listened on my way home from work. I listened as I did my household chores. I missed some things but I chalked it up to that phenomenon where I gloss over words when reading, too.
Still, it requires a bit of concentration that is like reading but also different. I think about things differently than I do when reading. I conjure up images differently.
I don’t think I’ll ever put books down. I like the smell of them and the feel of them in my hands. But this is a nice way to get some different reading in.